We, the below signed SUNY New Paltz Alumni, have organized this petition to demand that SUNY New Paltz cancel the campus event, “DiploAct”, hosted by Students Supporting Israel, this upcoming Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
We find that it is, in no uncertain terms, utterly inappropriate and irresponsible for an academic institution to provide a platform for IDF soldiers as they indiscriminately bomb civilians and civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and sites of worship in Gaza. According to Euro Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel’s campaign against the people of Gaza has resulted in the death of more than 38,000 Palestinians, more than 14,000 of which are children. Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza has also resulted in the death of 130 journalists, the damaging of 406 schools and the destruction of more than 250 healthcare facilities. As we are sure you already know, the International Court of Justice has found that accusations of genocide against Israel for their aggression are plausible and many reputable humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and B'tselem have identified various war crimes committed by the IDF in their campaign in Gaza.
Regardless of personal opinions and allegiances, endorsing a foreign military force on public university grounds as they wage an indiscriminate war against the civilian population of Palestine is a dereliction of the responsibility administrators have for an institution of higher learning and their student body. Whether intentional or not, allowing this event will result in silencing and ostracizing staff and students while the slaughter continues. Many students and campus organizations have already expressed that this event makes them feel unsafe and unwelcome at their own university. No person should have to choose between their education or their safety. No staff member should have to choose between their career or their safety. No individual should be made to fear speaking out against a brutal apartheid regime and the ongoing occupation and massacre of an indigenous people.
As stakeholders in this community, we demand that SUNY New Paltz cancel this event. If the event is not canceled, we will be obliged to share this information with our fellow alumni and other stakeholders to ensure that no one assists in supporting or funding an institution that allows war criminals into our community.
We, as alumni of SUNY New Paltz, demand that the administration of this university own up to the values espoused in its mission statements on diversity and inclusion and remain “a community grounded in justice, civility, and respect” by canceling this event.
Updates
February 27, 2024
The momentum is undeniable. This is a clear demand for accountability from our administration.
19 Comments
I’m an alumn and absolutely disgusted that my college would platform war criminals committing genocide, currently being investigated by the ICJ. I’m disgusted, but not surprised. Get all genocide perpetrators and apologist off campus!! You cannot “both sides” your way out of this colonial horror show, shame on SUNY New Paltz!
Inconceivable that such guests endorsing apartheid at best and genocide at the worst, be welcomed, much less invited to our alma mater. Free Palestine!
This event centers violence, oppression, it upholds the conduct of the same state sanctioned institutions/people the ICJ has declared are plausibly committing genocide. This event supports genocide and cuts against solidarity. It has no place in the kind of commons we want SUNY NP to be. I urge admin to cancel this event.
I’m a Jewish alumna of SUNY New Paltz and I say NO to having the IDF on campus.
New Paltz served not only as the vehicle for my undergraduate education but also as a center of enlightenment, where I gained insights into global dynamics, dissected systems of oppression, and cultivated a profound commitment to justice. As an esteemed seat of higher learning, New Paltz bears a responsibility to champion social justice and uphold human rights. Therefore, the prospect of New Paltz entertaining any affiliation with the IDF is profoundly unsettling to me, particularly amidst Israel's ongoing acts of genocide in Gaza. I adamantly reject any semblance of endorsement toward the right-wing Israeli government and its occupying forces, and I implore both the New Paltz community and institution to unequivocally do the same.
I am horrified by the fact that SUNY New Paltz is allowing this event, and it is disgusting behavior on their part.
So disrespectful and downright disgusting to the thousands of dead civilians and entire population of Gaza who are being wiped out by the IOF.
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We, the below signed SUNY New Paltz Alumni, have organized this petition to demand that SUNY New Paltz cancel the campus event, “DiploAct”, hosted by Students Supporting Israel, this upcoming Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
We find that it is, in no uncertain terms, utterly inappropriate and irresponsible for an academic institution to provide a platform for IDF soldiers as they indiscriminately bomb civilians and civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and sites of worship in Gaza. According to Euro Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel’s campaign against the people of Gaza has resulted in the death of more than 38,000 Palestinians, more than 14,000 of which are children. Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza has also resulted in the death of 130 journalists, the damaging of 406 schools and the destruction of more than 250 healthcare facilities. As we are sure you already know, the International Court of Justice has found that accusations of genocide against Israel for their aggression are plausible and many reputable humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and B'tselem have identified various war crimes committed by the IDF in their campaign in Gaza.
Regardless of personal opinions and allegiances, endorsing a foreign military force on public university grounds as they wage an indiscriminate war against the civilian population of Palestine is a dereliction of the responsibility administrators have for an institution of higher learning and their student body. Whether intentional or not, allowing this event will result in silencing and ostracizing staff and students while the slaughter continues. Many students and campus organizations have already expressed that this event makes them feel unsafe and unwelcome at their own university. No person should have to choose between their education or their safety. No staff member should have to choose between their career or their safety. No individual should be made to fear speaking out against a brutal apartheid regime and the ongoing occupation and massacre of an indigenous people.
As stakeholders in this community, we demand that SUNY New Paltz cancel this event. If the event is not canceled, we will be obliged to share this information with our fellow alumni and other stakeholders to ensure that no one assists in supporting or funding an institution that allows war criminals into our community.
We, as alumni of SUNY New Paltz, demand that the administration of this university own up to the values espoused in its mission statements on diversity and inclusion and remain “a community grounded in justice, civility, and respect” by canceling this event.
Updates
February 27, 2024
The momentum is undeniable. This is a clear demand for accountability from our administration.
19 Comments
I am a SUNY New Paltz 2006 graduate and I have a daughter who is currently a Junior at SUNY New Paltz. We are Jewish American's and are also opposed to the genocide in Gaza by the Israeli government, thus opposed to any support of the ongoing war on the Palestinian people.
I’m an alumn and absolutely disgusted that my college would platform war criminals committing genocide, currently being investigated by the ICJ. I’m disgusted, but not surprised. Get all genocide perpetrators and apologist off campus!! You cannot “both sides” your way out of this colonial horror show, shame on SUNY New Paltz!
Inconceivable that such guests endorsing apartheid at best and genocide at the worst, be welcomed, much less invited to our alma mater. Free Palestine!
This event centers violence, oppression, it upholds the conduct of the same state sanctioned institutions/people the ICJ has declared are plausibly committing genocide. This event supports genocide and cuts against solidarity. It has no place in the kind of commons we want SUNY NP to be. I urge admin to cancel this event.
I’m a Jewish alumna of SUNY New Paltz and I say NO to having the IDF on campus.
New Paltz served not only as the vehicle for my undergraduate education but also as a center of enlightenment, where I gained insights into global dynamics, dissected systems of oppression, and cultivated a profound commitment to justice. As an esteemed seat of higher learning, New Paltz bears a responsibility to champion social justice and uphold human rights. Therefore, the prospect of New Paltz entertaining any affiliation with the IDF is profoundly unsettling to me, particularly amidst Israel's ongoing acts of genocide in Gaza. I adamantly reject any semblance of endorsement toward the right-wing Israeli government and its occupying forces, and I implore both the New Paltz community and institution to unequivocally do the same.
I am horrified by the fact that SUNY New Paltz is allowing this event, and it is disgusting behavior on their part.
So disrespectful and downright disgusting to the thousands of dead civilians and entire population of Gaza who are being wiped out by the IOF.
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I am a SUNY New Paltz 2006 graduate and I have a daughter who is currently a Junior at SUNY New Paltz. We are Jewish American's and are also opposed to the genocide in Gaza by the Israeli government, thus opposed to any support of the ongoing war on the Palestinian people.